Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 26 July 2006 |
Nature
| doi:10.1038/news060724-6
Corrected online: 26 July 2006
News
Baked scorpions solve fossil puzzle
Waxy layers on insects are responsible for fossil chemical make-up.
A conundrum about the chemical make-up of fossilized insects has been solved this week by scientists who baked up scorpions to find the answer.
Modern arthropods, including cockroaches, scorpions, beetles and shrimps, have shells made up of chitin.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email webadmin@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.
There are currently no comments.
